SCOF - Winter 2019 - Issue no.30

S.C.O.F ISSUE NO. 30

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WINTER 2019

OLDE TIME ev e ryth ing t h at m at ters

ts a fine colife hundreds of , and a candy would make good pop right off his ers.

SCOF

MAG

STILL FREE

southern culture

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SCOF Winter Fluffer

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Photo: Indian River Lagoon, FL - December 2018, Steve Seinberg 9 S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

Photo: Watauga River, TN - January 2019, Rand Harcz

Photo: Watauga River, TN - January 2019, Rand Harcz

Photo: Indian River Lagoon, FL - January 2019, Steve Seinberg

DESIGNED WITH INTENTION IGNITER / TECHNICAL CONDITIONS

Location: Argentina

Water Type: Jurassic Lake

Fly: Yellow Yummy Rubber Legs Size 6

Rod: 890-4 IGNITER

SCOF MAGAZINE ON AN IPHONE OR IPAD After clicking on the magazine link with an iPad or iPhone, a PDF version will be downloaded. Click ‘Open In iBooks’ and the issue will be stored in your iBooks catalog to be viewed anytime.

features

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island of the damned

76

musky fishing is for the birds

106

o smallmouth, where art thou?

158

gatlinburg

by david grossman photos: rand harcz

by david grossman photos: steve seinberg and rand harcz by clark french

by david grossman photos: rand harcz and david grossman

flapjacks & trout stackz

departments

8 scof winter fluffer

28 a letter from dave .david

grossman

32

haiku

66

400 words

72

fur and feather matinee

94

bench press

122

far away from home

.brian

kleinchester

.noah davis .peter perch .musky

mustache .nate hensley .purple

nurple .noah miller .catalonia

.steve seinberg

144

stratergizing

176

the back page journal

.florida

man cleans and eats fish .josh hendry .mike

benson and paul puckett

no. 29

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s.c.o.f winter 2019

issue no. 30

olde time fudge shoppe editor co-publisher:

David Grossman creative director co-publisher:

Steve Seinberg contributors: Paul Puckett Mike Benson Noah Miller Peter Perch Brian Kleinchester Josh Hendry Clark French Noah Davis Nate Hensley

copy editor: Lindsey Grossman staff photographer: Rand Harcz general inquiries and submissions: info@southerncultureonthefly.com advertising information: info@southerncultureonthefly.com

cover photo: Rand Harcz

www.southerncultureonthefly.com 24

all content and images Š 2018 Southern Culture on the Fly

S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

southern culture S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

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A letter from Dave, editor and walking insurance claim..

Winter 2019 I have lied to you. All of you. I’ve sat at my desk every winter for many moons, and expounded onto the screen about the awesomeness of winter: Solitude...bullshit...big fish... more bullshit...clever pun...conclusion. This formulaic untruth will never again pass my fingertips, nor should it pass yours.

The lie of winter not sucking a big one has burned a cold, dead spot into my ethical being. Come November, I stop sleeping, eating, and all other scatalogical commitments seized by the sheer dread of having to come up with a new way to polish the turd that is winter into an ice sculpture of a rose. My constitution no longer abides.

ing in The Sunshine State—because the weather sucks almost every time you’re there if you don’t live there.

Cold fronts, and north winds do not make for a sundrenched, fish-filled wonderland. Some would counter with winter reds in Louisiana. True that winter fishery is bonkers, but only if the weather doesn’t suck, and guess what? The weather sucks a lot, because it’s winter. By all means buy your lottery tickets, because someone has to win, but please understand it probably won’t be you.

The other week, I was supposed to take a friend from out of town on a float. With a forecast of 26 degrees and winds over 10, I shot him a text to get his thoughts. He immediately told me that just having breakfast I’d be remiss if I didn’t spend at least while he was in town would be a a moment or two reviewing the high- much better idea than sitting in a er notes of my least favorite season. boat all day freezing our tiny shrunkFrozen guides, frozen rivers, lethargic en dinguses off. He made the obfish, frozen anchor ropes (I had to servation that age had robbed him pee on one to defrost it...I also had to of being “hard-core.” I contend age row all day), frozen engines, the pee turned him into a reasonable, rational that leaks into my long underwear being. In this post-Mountain-Dew-exwhen I have to go in waders whilst treme-sports-world, we have become going from a boat—these are just a dumbasses. Stay in the house, tie few of the things that make winter flies, watch Silver Kings on Amazon the enemy of joy.

Prime, drink whisky. Whatever you do, don’t go outside. It’s winter, and The only place in the Southeast spring is still months away. That’s the where winter is even remotely tolerstraight dope, kiddos. able is Florida, but don’t be fooled.

Every other season has better fish-

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..

NO. 1 FALL 2011

NO. 2 WINTER 2012

NO. 3 SPRING 2012

NO. 4 SUMMER 2012

NO. 5 FALL 2012

NO. 12 SUMMER 2014

NO. 13 FALL 2014

NO. 14 WINTER 2015

NO. 15 SPRING 2015

NO. 22 WINTER 2017

NO. 23 SPRING 2017

NO. 24 SUMMER 2017

NO. 25 FALL 2017

ve A FUN Summer southernHaculture

S.C.O.F issue no. 12

summer 2014

we’re better than them

S.C.O.F

magazine

still free

NO. 11 SPRING 2014 S.C.O.F issue no. 21

Dance Poon...Dance Topwater Timing Totalitarianism Hardly, Strictly Musky Roadside Attractions Fishing the Proper Popper-Dropper

Disco Shrimp Gangsters of the Pond Von Beard Chronicles Linwood Blue Crab ...and more

fall 2016

olde time fudge shoppe

THE

ReJiggering

SCOF

MAG

STILL FREE

southern culture

NO. 21 FALL 2016

30

S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

Defining Everything that Matters

NO. 6 WINTER 2013

NO. 7 SPRING 2013

NO. 8 SUMMER 2013

NO. 9 FALL 2013

NO. 10 WINTER 2014

NO. 16 SUMMER 2015

NO. 17 FALL 2015

NO. 18 WINTER 2016

NO. 19 SPRING 2016

NO. 20 SUMMER 2016

NO. 26 WINTER 2018

NO. 27 SPRING 2018

NO. 28 SUMMER 2018

NO. 29 FALL 2018

S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

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Haiku

with Brian (Romanov) Kleinchester

All the taper dreams Enthusiasts of nature All the Busch screams

NEW PRODUCT SHOWCASE WINNER

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island of the

damned

By David Grossman Photos: Steve Seinberg and Rand Harcz

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Looking back on the totality of what happened, I should’ve seen everything going off the tracks long before the whole thing actually derailed. There are

always signposts you blow by on your way to wherever the hell it is you wind up. One of them would have been the forecast of cloudy days with north winds. Another would’ve been the whole case of the wrong beer bought mistakenly. Even with bad weather and undrinkable beer, I have never seen such rapid devolvement of a recreational situation. Little did we all know, when we beached the boats on the island, one of us wouldn’t be leaving.

The plan was beautiful in its simplicity: Head down to Florida and escape winter’s cold shoulder. We’d meet some friends who live down there, claim an island in the lagoon, and enjoy a few days on easy street. When one occupies an island for multiple days, certain rules must be followed: Flats must be close, the beer store must be close, and anyone else must be far away. Other than that the general rules of a civil society apply. At least that was my belief before I reached the island.

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“When we awoke, mildew in its wak may have been mo

There were eight of us. Four from the mountains: Galen, Rand, Brian and I, and four from the beach: Noah, Josh, Steve, and Big Dave. After the boats were unloaded and our backs broken by the weight of booze, poultry, and pork, we spent the rest of the evening in the throes of revelry as if we were really conquerors or pirates taking an island by force (not by 60 horses, as was the actual situation).

Our sleep was deep, and filled with hope for the days to come.

Late that night, a strong storm roiled our camp and soaked everything not under cover. When we awoke, the rain had passed leaving only the foul odor of mildew in its wake. That mildew pervaded everything in a way that may have been more than natural, but less than supernatural.

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the rain had passed leaving only the foul odor of ke. That mildew pervaded everything in a way that ore than natural, but less than supernatural.�

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The fish were hard to find that first day, and when we did occa as possible out of our sight. It was almost like they could sme poled, and scanned for hours with nothing to show for it. Pulli tive, but I could tell the beach folk were just on the edge of he are commenting on how awesome it is, “just to be out,� and h campfire. When everyone on a fishing trip is talking about any

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asionally find a specimen, they avoided us moving as fast ell the mildew of doom on us. We reeked of it. We motored, ing back into the island that night, the mood was still posiedging. I’ve seen this whole scenario play out before. People how the barbecue is “extra moist” when enjoyed around the ything but the fishing, you know where things are heading.

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“I tried to restore balance to the island with reason and more whisky.�

The next day was much as the first—searching, losing, more searching, and finally despair. The emotional state around the fire the second night was unmistakably more somber than the first. The weight of the fishing pressed down on all of us and made each man around the fire feel as if he was a powerless boy again. Nothing to be done and no ability to change fate. At some point in the evening, things started getting really weird. A level of distrust had been building between the mountain tribe and the beach clan. Mountain folk are distrustful by nature, and beach people tend to talk about how good things are all

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the times when you’re not there. Rounds of whiskey, four beer can chickens, various holistic and medicinal berries, herbs, and fungus foraged from the island were consumed and the flames grew. I’m not sure the precise moment the levee broke, but what at first was just under the surface suddenly erupted all over us, like a Mt. Vesuvius of indignities. Threats were flying as freely as the shirts off the beach clan’s backs. As the only bridge between the two parties, I tried to restore balance to the island with reason and more whisky.

Both sides were quiet until the whisky was poured, and it looked as if things would hold for the night. This turned out not to be the case.

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“The pressure of no fish and tribal warfare must have been too much for the young lad. We tried to coax him out with various carrots of bacon, beer and the like.�

I wasn’t sure who lit Rand’s tent on fire in the middle of the night, until the next morning when I saw him scurrying through the woods in what was left of his board shorts fashioned into a sort of crude loin cloth. Damndest thing I ever saw. Rand was always the good-natured one, never a mean thing to say and always quick with his infectious giggle. I guess the nicest ones always break the hardest. The pressure of no fish and tribal warfare must have been too much for the young lad. We tried to coax him out with various carrots of bacon, beer, and

the like. But it soon became apparent that island Rand was not a benevolent marine creature.

It started with defecation of the boat hatches, and urine-soaked flies in boxes. The beach clan were the first to abandon ship, or island so to speak. We really had no expectations that they would be of any use. You know, beach people. I heard they went north and caught fish...typical. It was now down to the three of us to somehow bring Rand back from way over the edge. We spent the next 12 hours in what can only be called a chess match of jungle warfare.

Traps were set, fluids were flung, and the three of us came to know what true horror looks like: a quarteracre island in the middle of the Indian River Lagoon. I won’t recount the atrocities that Rand committed that day upon us, but the sheer brutality of the affair still leaves me screaming in the nights. We weren’t proud of ourselves but we had to leave Rand on the island.

The five-minute ride back to the boat ramp was silent save the drone of the motor. But in that silence we all knew leaving Rand scurrying about the island was the only choice. What he had become could not be released on the rest of you.

I know some will find leaving Rand in that state unacceptable in their eyes. All I can say is that their eyes didn’t see what we saw.

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Word has it some locals have been hearing strange things on the island since we left, and a few have even claimed of spotting what they referred to as a “skunk ape” skulking about the island. As I write these words describing this horrid affair, I know this tale sounds too tall to believe. But this is the story of the island of the damned exactly as I remember it. (And Rand’s still on the island. He texts. A lot.)

400 Words on...

By Noah Davis

Illustrations: Peter Perch

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They’re all bastards.

They crowd you.

Yell to their buddies on the bank.

Don’t pack out their Miller Lite bottles.

Play their subwoofers so loudly that the parking lot gravel jumps.

Walk through the runs that hold fish.

Ask what you’re using three times before they step in the water.

Shine their headlamps in your eyes.

Complain how the fish aren’t big enough.

Leave when it’s too dark to move into their spot where all the trout have stacked all day.

How the hell did they find this place?

Anglers devolve to children when they see another human casting in water they hold dear. The words “my fish” climb up the throat and push against the teeth. The same reaction we first discovered as toddlers when we picked up our favorite toys and walked to the other side of the room.

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We’ve all seen the expression from someone who comes around the bend in the river or over the hill and another human with a rod and line is already casting. Sometimes the excitement, that great anticipation of knowing where fish will be, falls from the face, but it’s typically from the shoulders, like a soaked

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raincoat rolling backwards onto the ground.

In that moment, we realize we’re all bastards, every single one of us, each time we step in a river we don’t typically wade.

My dad and I fished a remote brookie stream five years ago.

S.C.O.F MAGAZINE

Three miles up from the pull-out, a man was drifting a stimulator across the tail of a pool. When he saw us, he let his rod tip fall into the water. Even though the man noticed our chest packs and 3wts, he asked if we were fishing, a not-so-silent plea in his eyes. We talked with him for 20 minutes; more like commiserated about how people won’t walk far for small, beautiful things; how

these woods and streams should be kept protected, cared for. After two years, this man started to leave beers on our tailgate if we weren’t out by dark. Last year, he cooked us burgers on his porch.

But typically, they’re bastards.

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INTRODUCING THE NEW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

>

Fur and feather matinee Nate Hensley

C A T S U M Y K S MU

CHE

Musky Fishing is for the Birds

By Clark French

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I’ve hit the wall.

The one where you realize that all the stories are true; fly fishing for musky is a sadistic fool’s errand.

I have spent the better part of two months casting flies (if you can even call them that) the size of a Tyson chicken against the bank over and over and over without ever seeing a fish, let alone moving one. All I have to show for it is a bruised ego and a sore shoulder.

I am starting to realize that my naïve notions of quick musky glory were all wrong.

Some might say I am soft; two months is just getting warmed up when it comes to Muskellunge. But, when my buddy, Eddie, called me and asked if I wanted to “go huck some meat,” I told him that I was going to take a break. I needed some time to re-evaluate the direction of my life.

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“...who was I to stop a guy from pursu

He asked to borrow my 11-weight and some flies I tied. I really had Eddie. He is not my cousin. (The part that’s not funny is that my w stop a guy from pursuing his own masochistic tendencies? After a

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uing his own masochistic tendencies?�

d no other choice but to oblige; my name is Clark and his name is wife is actually named Ellen.) Griswold parallels aside, who was I to all, he was only hurting himself.

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I sat and caught up on some work while Eddie and whatever mouthbreathing troglodyte he found to help him row, floated down the river in the winter drizzle. I sure was happy to be inside in the warmth.

Musky fishing is for the birds, I thought to myself as my phone began to ring.

It was Eddie.

“MUSKYYYYYYYY!!!!” He howled.

I had to hold the phone away from my head.

“MUSKY, MUSKY, MUSKYYYYY!!!!”

I hung up on him.

He called back immediately.

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“Dude! This thing is 41-inches! He inhaled your fly—the yellow and brown one! I am sending you pictures now.”

He hung up on me.

I sat in shock. My phone lit up again. It was a picture of the most prehistoric looking dinosaur of a fish I have ever seen. It had a 13inch articulated brown and yellow fly between its razor-sharp teeth and was being held by a self-loathing idiot with a dopey grin dripping off of his face.

I couldn’t believe it. He had done it.

My phone lit up again… and again… and again…

Pictures came pouring in: Eddie and the left side of the fish. Eddie and the right side of the fish. Eddie smiling with the fish. Eddie screaming while holding the fish over his head. Eddie playing the fish like a guitar. Eddie licking the fish. Eddie releasing the fish. Eddie flipping the bird while chugging discount malt liquor.

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I was contemplating throwing my phone against the wall when I got a text from another fishing buddy.

“What are your plans this weekend?” he asked.

“Eddie is going to put me on a Musky.” I responded.

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GUIDED TRIPS AND TRAVEL

bench press Noah Miller

NOah Miller We all know purple and black are a great combination for most saltwater predators.

This fly is very light, and lands softly making it ideal for very calm, shallow shorelines. It imitates either a mud minnow or a shrimp depending on how it is retrieved. It’s usually the most effective over sandy or muddy bottom, and can be used to catch anything that eats a shrimp or a mud minnow. If I had to pick one fly to fish year-round for everything, this is what I would pick. This fly works great for snook, trout, tarpon, black drum and redfish. Especially in slightly stained or dirty water.

Material List: Gamakatsu SC15 #1 Pink 210 thread Medium bead chain Black barred purple rabbit zonker Black flash Purple 1.5” foxy brush Black 1.5” foxy brush Loon UV

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Step 1: Tie on pink thread and bring back toward the hook eye.

Step 2: Tie in your bead chain eyes just behind the eye of the hook and wrap the thread all the way down the shank of the hook to just before the bend.

Step 3: Cut a small piece of mono (I use 30lb) and tie it in on either side of the shank to form a foul guard. The rear of the foul guard should extend just beyond the back of the hook.

Step 4: Tie in the rabbit zonker (I use anywhere from an inch long to two inches, depending on how long I would like the fly to be). For these purposes, let’s say an inch and a quarter long.

Step 5: Tie in two pieces of black flash on each side of the fly. The flash should go 3/4 of the way down the rabbit strip.

Step 6: Tie in the purple foxy brush on top of where you tied in the rabbit zonker.

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Step 7: Palmer it forward covering half of the shank of the hook. Use hackle pliers and make sure you get nice tight wraps of the brush. Tie it in halfway up the shank of the hook and cut it off.

Step 8: Tie in the black foxy brush where you ended the purple brush.

Step 9: Palmer it forward up to the bead chain eyes.

Step 10: Whip finish and add Loon UV. Step 11: Cure.

Step 12: Trim the foxy brush down some. I like to trim mine down to a size a little larger than a No. 2 pencil.

Noah Miller has been a fixture around SCOF the last few issues, and we felt it was high time we wrote him a proper bio. So here we go; He poles, he casts, he even ties flies while you wait. He is Noah Miller and for a limited time you can get him to tie for you for the insanely low price of $7.00 plus shipping. Just dial F-L-Y on your rotary phones or go to floridaflyco.com and get you some of Noah today. (Long distance rates may apply.)

O Smallmouth, where art thou?

By David Grossman Photos: David Grossman and Rand Harcz

Where do you go during the winter, my paramour? Why do you disappear into the depths of my heart when I yearn for you the most? Is it warm there? Are the rocks flush with crawfish and the gravel rife with minnows?

It has been many a fortnight since I have gazed upon your bronzed scales shimmering in the last light of a warm evening. Your lip nuzzling my finger as if we were to be together for more than just a fleeting moment in time. During the cold nights of winter, I harken back to the way your dorsal fin playfully jabbed my thumb and gave me that naughty infection. Each burning hour in my thumb was like but a second in your presence.

You will come back to me, won’t you?

Are the pleasures of hibernation too tempting? Does your slowed heart beat for me as mine does for you?

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I look for you in every frothy eddy on the winter trout streams I have been relegated to in your absence.

Your absence speaks to me as much as your presence does, for I wonder if without threat of absence my love would be as undying. If your fight was not so hard, your takes not so fierce, I might make the mistake of thinking so. Your mere existence drives my belief in the divine. The way you slip to the surface and daintily sip the foam before thrashing violently in such a manner as but to guarantee the existence of a power in the universe greater than my simple human mind can understand.

Has another angler stolen your heart and your virtue? With bait? What ends to call, would you even answer?

I admit in shame that I have gone astray and visited your cousins in the lake and I was overcome with the shame of indiscretions. Your forgiveness, while at bay. There will be no substitutes, impostors, or interlopers from now until chartreuse and white will my love be true for you.

s of this Earth must I go so that we can dance among the icicles? If I were

es and southern waters. Their stripes and crass large mouths disgusted me e not deserved, is the only celestial notion that has kept the melancholy l eternity. I am yours as you are mine. As true as your love for all bobbles

Who diddles your heart strings when you are away? Does your anal fin long for my mistimed hookset? Are your stripes as dark as I remember them?

I countdown the days, my small-jawed temptress. When the forest and fields begin to stir with the first hint of spring, I will come looking for you. When the mountain laurel blooms, I will re-enter your world in pursuit of what my hearts wants most. And when the birds sing and world is born anew, I will find you...and stab you in the face...with a hook...and let you go.

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FAR AWAY FROM HOME

Catalonia, Spain Photos: Steve Seinberg

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stratergizing

Josh Hendry

Florida Man Cleans and Eats Fish

Photos: Steve Seinberg

If you came to fishing late in life, it is completely reasonable that you have never had the pleasure of catching a fish, cleaning and eating it fresh. It’s not your fault. We seem to have gone so far to catch and release that these skills are no longer a priority. No need to gut something if you’re going to put it back. That would just be sociopathic. Please don’t take this as our blessing to murder everything that crosses your path, but a fish harvested occasionally in the right place at the right time can be overwhelmingly satisfying. Unless you don’t know how to clean one. Then we’re back to killing for the sake of killing and that ain’t cool. So don’t be a fool, learn how to clean a fish.

(No redfish were harmed in the making of this article.)

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If you want to clean a fish quickly and effectively, a good sharp knife and a flat surface are essential. No need to go over the top fancy with fillet knives.

You want one that has a very pointy tip and flexes a bit down the blade. Good knives can be found at a baitshop for less than $10.

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The first thing you want to do with any fish you are harvesting is bleed it out. A simple slice through the gills will drain the fish and remove a bit of the fishy flavor from the end result.

After you’ve bled the fish, set it on the flat surface of your choice and make a cut from the anus to just to the underside of the gills, making sure you cut in between the pelvic fins. Open the cavity, remove all guts, and rinse.

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Lay the fish back down on the table and make a cut just behind the gills, following outside of the gill plate and slicing through the belly flap, right behind the pectoral fin. Cut until you are deep enough to feel the vertebrae.

After you’ve made the cut behind the gill plate, turn your knife so you are cutting horizontally. Cut through the rib cage, toward the tail of the fish while using the backbone as a guide to help get a nice even cut. Make sure you are always cutting away from yourself.

Once you reach the base of the tail, flip the fillet over, skin down. Starting at the tail, horizontally slice the meat away from the skin. This is the step where a little flex in the blade makes a huge difference. Put enough pressure on the blade to make it flat but not enough to cut through the skin. After this balance is achieved, you should be able to gently push the knife right on through.

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Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 on the unfinished side.

After both fillets are removed from the fish, take each one and carve around the rib cage, eliminating all bones.

Rinse each fillet thoroughly with clean water, pat dry, and package for later or make tacos.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are disposing of any carcasses back into the watershed, make sure you poke the eyes as they will become gaseous and float the carcass to the surface.

It is alright to harvest fish on an occasional basis, but please, for Christ’s sake, don’t let it become your entire motivation for getting on the water.

JOIN TH

HE FIGHT

Gatlinburg

FLAP JACKS & TROUT STACKZ

By David Grossman Photos: Rand Harcz

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The road to Gatlinburg is as long as the town is strange. Far off the highway

and surrounded by the more common Appalachian scenes of alternating poverty and natural beauty, Gatlinburg jars the senses as you pull into the valley. “Jarring” is a mild description, really. Hordes of people wandering the main strip, buying candy by the pound and t-shirts by the gross. With the current laws, legal moonshiners have created vast halls dedicated to their various once illegal spirits, adding a healthy din of Bacchanalian revelry to the whole thing.

I was told by a bartender that the whole town was built on candy, t-shirts, and ‘shine. I have seen nothing in my time there to disprove this statement.

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Everything in town is a contradiction or oddity.

Gatlinburg has adopted the moniker “Gateway to the Smokies,” being so close to the Western entrance to Smoky Mountain National Park.

Most visitors to town never make it into the park, as the draw of the oddities museum and watching lumberjacks play-fight over a 32-oz. ribeye prove too tempting. For a town with very few Asian people, there’s an alarming number of stores selling throwing stars and katanas. An aquarium boasts a fine collection of marine life hundreds of miles from the sea, and a candy store sprawl that would make good Mr. Wonka’s head pop right off his diminutive shoulders.

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The valley for all its cartoon-like development is still a valley, and trout (albeit stocked rainbows at this point), and the trout still ea place still exists where the mountains and valley operate in a ma spots: Something awesome in the middle of a world of schlock. long past the days of fudge and old time photos, this river would miniature golf course for the last time, those fish would still eat. tains, rivers, and valley will barely remember they ever existed.

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d at the heart of it is the Little Pigeon river. In that river still live at flies. One block over from the madness and consumerism, a anner that my head can wrap itself around. I love these kind of . As indicator after indicator went down, I thought to myself that d still be here. After the winded tourists walk the Hillbilly Golf And when the “believe it or not” is just the “not,” our moun-

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MAY2019 - spring no.31

photo: Steve Seinberg

The Back Page Journal

with Paul Puckett and Mike Benson EXORCISING THE DEMONS Life is a drag. I mean really, when you break it down, and take out all the Instagram filters, life can suck sometimes. We spend the largest portion of our lives working. Bringing home the bacon. Securing our families’ future. You know, selling our immortal souls to put bread on the table and keep up with the Joneses.

It’s hard in this day and age to feel accomplished. All one has to do to deflate their sense of self-worth is flip through their social media of choice and gaze through the magical looking glass at the seamless, amazing, glamorous lives that everyone (other than you of course) are living. It’s easy, if you’re not careful, to fall into the trap of believing that you’re the only one who yells “FUCK” and starts doing math on your fingers every time a new power bill shows up in the mail. Yes, if one is not careful, they may fall into the false belief that they are, in fact, the only people on the planet not living the “American Dream.” It’s all a lie of course, but since when have demons dealt in truths?

This morning, James and I left the dock with no particular plan in mind. We would look for tarpon early, and inevitably switch to redfish after we failed to catch a tarpon. Because, people don’t actually catch tarpon on the fly in South Carolina.

It’s really not a thing. Except when it is. The water was slicked out for the ride to the spot, which made for a beautiful backdrop for a great Instagram photo (one I resisted the urge to take). My resistance was bolstered by the hordes of tarpon rolling in front of us. It took a little work, and we didn’t have a lot of time to take photos, but I actually did get within casting range of a tarpon. I made a good cast, and wouldn’t you know it, he ate. It only lasted a few seconds. He broke off pretty quick, as tarpon do sometimes. The feeling, well, that still hasn’t faded. It still lingers, sitting there at the back of my brain, telling me that everything is ok, that the world isn’t tearing itself apart. I’m doing alright after all.

I may never live a life that draws envy on Instagram, and I may spend the rest of my life busting my ass to support my local power company, but I know where tarpon live. So, when the walls come closing in, and my inadequacies threaten to choke me to death, I know where to run, where to hide. I know how to exorcise the demons.

S.C.O.F Magazine | issue no. 30 | winter 2019